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Taylor & Francis Online :: Colonial migrants and the making of a British Mediterranean – European Review of History: Revue europeenne d’histoire – Volume 19, Issue 1
“This article examines the concept and colonial reality of the British Mediterranean through the imperial network of trade and migration from and to areas under British political and/or economic control. The hybrid identities of many citizens in the colonial Mediterranean can best be seen in the perception and reality of the ports of the Eastern Mediterranean as cosmopolitan. The article also argues that the role and experience of these migrants as intermediate groups was determined by the form of rule British colonial authorities imposed in each dominion.”
tags: newjournalarticles
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ScienceDirect.com – Health Policy – Policies to improve the health and well-being of Roma people: The European experience
“Abstract
The Roma constitute the largest ethnic minority in the European Region. The many policy initiatives designed over the past two decades to tackle their adverse social conditions in Central and South Eastern Europe, where the Roma population is concentrated, have had limited success. This paper reviews what is being done to improve the health and social situation of Roma communities in the Region and identifies factors that may limit the effectiveness of these policy initiatives. Strong political commitment, measures to overcome prejudices against Roma, inter-sectoral policy coordination, adequate budgets, evidence-based policies, and Roma involvement can be identified as key preconditions for improved health outcomes and well-being. However, developing a sound evidence-based approach to Roma inclusion requires removing obstacles to the collection of reliable data and improving analytical and evaluation capacity. Health policies seeking to reduce health inequalities for Roma people need to be aligned with education, economic, labour market, housing, environmental and territorial development policies and form part of comprehensive policy frameworks allowing for effective integration.”
tags: newjournalarticles
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ScienceDirect.com – Health Policy – Migrant’s access to immunization in Mediterranean Countries
“Abstract
Countries bordering the Mediterranean are part of a major migration system. The aim of this study is to assess the main access barriers to immunization of mobile populations in the region and propose an action based framework to decrease health access inequalities.
A survey on formal and informal barriers to immunization among mobile communities was conducted among public health officials formally appointed as focal points of the EpiSouth Network by 26 Mediterranean countries. Twenty-two completed the questionnaire.
Thirteen countries reported at least one vaccine preventable disease (VPD) outbreak occurring among mobile populations since 2006 even though their legal entitlement to immunization is mostly equivalent to the general population’s. Informal barriers, particularly lack of information and lack of trust in authorities, and disaggregation of data collection are the major issues still to be addressed.
Mediterranean countries need to fill the gap in immunization coverage among pockets of susceptible individuals in order to prevent VPD outbreaks. Having for the most part ensured free entitlement, introducing more migrant friendly approaches, increasing information availability among mobile communities, building trust in public health services and disaggregating data collection to monitor and evaluate service performance among mobile groups are key aspects to address in the region.
Keywords
Transients and Migrants;
Mediterranean Region;
Health Services Accessibility;
Immunization;
EpiSouth”
tags: newjournalarticles
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ScienceDirect.com – Health Policy – Monitoring migrant health in Europe: A narrative review of data collection practices
“Abstract
Background
Data on the health of migrants, including on health determinants and access to health services, are an essential pre-condition for providing appropriate and accessible health services to this population group. This article reviews how far current data collection systems in the European Union (EU) allow to monitor migrant health.
Methods
We searched the academic literature using PubMed and reviewed the results of recent EU-funded research projects on migrant health.
Results
Most EU member states lack information on the health of migrants, limiting the possibility for monitoring and improving migrant health. National death registers allow for disaggregation according to migrant status in 24 of 27 EU member states. Registry data on health care utilization by migrant status are available in only 11 of 27 member states, although in most cases this only covers secondary and not primary care. Only few countries collect large-scale survey data on migrant health and health care utilization.
Conclusion
Many EU countries need to step up their organizational and regulatory efforts to monitor migrant health if the current lack of data on migrant health should be overcome. This could be done through the inclusion of improved questions on migration in existing data collection processes.
Keywords
Migration;
Migrant;
Data collection;
Health information;
European Union”
tags: newjournalarticles
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ScienceDirect.com – Health Policy – Responding to diversity: An exploratory study of migrant health policies in Europe
“There has been growing international attention to migrant health, reflecting recognition of the need for health systems to adapt to increasingly diverse populations. However, reports from health policy experts in 25 European countries suggest that by 2009 only eleven countries had established national policies to improve migrant health that go beyond migrants’ statutory or legal entitlement to care. The objective of this paper is to compare and contrast the content of these policies and analyse their strengths and limitations. The analysis suggests that most of the national policies target either migrants or more established ethnic minorities. Countries should address the diverse needs of both groups and could learn from “intercultural” health care policies in Ireland and, in the past, the Netherlands. Policies in several countries prioritise specific diseases or conditions, but these differ and it is not clear whether they accurately reflect real differences in need among countries. Policy initiatives typically involve training health workers, providing interpreter services and/or ‘cultural mediators’, adapting organizational culture, improving data collection and providing information to migrants on health problems and services. A few countries stand out for their quest to increase migrants’ health literacy and their participation in the development and implementation of policy. Progressive migrant health policies are not always sustainable as they can be undermined or even reversed when political contexts change. The analysis of migrant health policies in Europe is still in its infancy and there is an urgent need to monitor the implementation and evaluate the effectiveness of these diverse policies.”
tags: newjournalarticles
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Taylor & Francis Online :: Does ethnic origin determine integration success? A comparison of immigration policies in Germany and Japan – Asian Ethnicity – Volume 13, Issue 2
“The paper analyzes public policy and public opinion responses toward immigrants in Germany and Japan, two countries whose immigration policies have relied on blood purity (jus sanguinis). The paper retraces the rationale for jus sanguinis and contends that it was adopted at the turn of the century in both countries out of political convenience. The principles and goals of immigration policies are compared cautioning that better principles must not mean better outcomes.
It is reiterated that Germany has made a politically motivated move away from the ethnic monocultural concept, whereas Japan still hangs on more or less to the old model of silent and subtle assimilation. The more dissuasive Japanese model of tight immigration control, deportation and monocultural assimilation isthen compared to the more permissive German immigration model. A comparison of identity discourses in the form of Japanese Nihonjinron and German Leitkultur shows that both countries struggle with identifying and asserting their core values and that this has a negative impact on integration issues. The paper concludes that Germany has failed to bear the full consequences of its ambitious plans by taking into account the values, beliefs and worldviews of its immigrants, whereas Japan continues to treat immigrants as temporary guests denying any need for long-term integration.”
tags: newjournalarticles
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Taylor & Francis Online :: Low-Status Work and Decollectivization: The Case of Bangladeshis in Athens – Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies – Volume 10, Issue 1
“This article focuses on the repercussions of work and employment in low-status jobs upon the collective organization and representation of immigrant workers. The microsociological analysis is focused on the case of Bangladeshi immigrants in Athens, specifically how far the frame of their employment affects their participation in the immigrant work association Bangladeshi Immigrant Workers’ Union of Greece, as well as in Greek trade unions. Evidence from in-depth interviews proves that Bangladeshis are supported by friendly relations in search for solidarity, they develop individualistic behaviors, and they find alternative solutions for survival and protection.”
tags: newjournalarticles
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Taylor & Francis Online :: The Confluence of Immigrant Ethnicity and Race in New York: A Socioeconomic Perspective – Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies – Volume 10, Issue 1
“This article focuses on socioeconomic differences by nativity and ethnicity within New York’s Black and Latino populations, an often overlooked topic since race tends to overshadow other differences. For these populations, it examines how the foreign-born fare vis-à-vis their native-born counterparts, and how immigrant ethnic groups compare with each other. Groups bring with them varying levels of human capital, and organize their households so as to maximize their strengths. The diversity of immigration to New York helps highlight how myriad ethnic groups integrate into the New York economy and provides important context for the provision of services to immigrant groups.”
tags: newjournalarticles
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Taylor & Francis Online :: Family Life and Acculturation Attitudes: A Study among Four Immigrant Groups in the Netherlands – Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies – Volume 38, Issue 4
“This article examines the relationship between different aspects of family life and acculturation attitudes among adults of the four main immigrant groups in the Netherlands. The focus is on the importance of early parental practices and current (national and transnational) family relationships for the attitude, first, towards socio-cultural maintenance and, second, towards socio-cultural adaptation. The results show that family life matters for both attitudes, but more strongly for the endorsement of socio-cultural maintenance. Family contacts and support are positively related to the endorsement of socio-cultural maintenance but not to the attitude towards socio-cultural adaptation. Growing up with loving and supporting parents is associated with a more positive attitude towards socio-cultural adaptation. In addition to, and independent from, the individual’s language proficiency, immigrants within families who speak Dutch more often have a more positive attitude towards socio-cultural adaptation and a lower endorsement of socio-cultural maintenance.”
tags: newjournalarticles
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The Diverging Logics of Integration Policy Making at National and City Level – Jørgensen – 2012 – International Migration Review – Wiley Online Library
“This paper examines the institutional logics of migration policy making at local city level, comparing four Danish municipal approaches. Using a theoretical framework on political opportunity structures, policy frames, and institutional logics, the paper argues that divergences between national and local level can be explained not only as an unsuccessful transposition of nationally formulated policies, but also as an outcome of divergence in alternative and competing policy frames, political rationales, and institutional logics. Investigating factors such as size, economy, and organizational structure, the paper offers three interrelated explanations for divergences between national and local level and between different local approaches. The paper argues that the difference in national and local level political opportunity structures makes a difference; that ideas diffused from outside the national context can inform local-level policy making; and that policies are situated within and adjusted to the broader cultural economy and city branding as part of competition between cities.”
tags: newjournalarticles
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A New Immigration Regularization Policy: The Settlement Program in Spain – Sabater – 2012 – International Migration Review – Wiley Online Library
“The topic of regularization of immigrants has occupied a position high on the agenda in Spain and elsewhere. In this paper, we contribute to this particular issue by providing an evaluative case study in Spain using administrative data from the Province of Barcelona from 2005 to 2009, which allows survival analysis, the follow-up of migrants’ trajectories after regularization and the examination of the hazard of lapsing back into irregularity. Our analysis reveals critical differences on the effectiveness of two pathways to earned legalization in Spain as a policy: the 2005 Normalisation and the Settlement Program in full operation since 2006.”
tags: newjournalarticles
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Immigrants’ Health in Europe: A Cross-Classified Multilevel Approach to Examine Origin Country, Destination Country, and Community Effects – Huijts – 2012 – International Migration Review – Wiley Online Library
“In this study, we examined origin, destination, and community effects on first- and second-generation immigrants’ health in Europe. We used information from the European Social Surveys (2002–2008) on 19,210 immigrants from 123 countries of origin, living in 31 European countries. Cross-classified multilevel regression analyses reveal that political suppression in the origin country and living in countries with large numbers of immigrant peers have a detrimental influence on immigrants’ health. Originating from predominantly Islamic countries and good average health among natives in the destination country appear to be beneficial. Additionally, the results point toward health selection mechanisms into migration.”
tags: newjournalarticles
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Race and School Enrollment among the Children of African Immigrants in the United States1 – Thomas – 2012 – International Migration Review – Wiley Online Library
“This study examines whether previous findings of an immigrant schooling advantage among Blacks in the United States reflect a declining significance of race in the enrollment patterns of immigrants’ children. Using data from the 2000 US census, the study finds that, despite their advantage within the Black population, the children of Black Africans are collectively disadvantaged relative to the children of White Africans. Disparate enrollment trajectories are found among children in Black and White African families. Specifically, between the first and second generations, enrollment outcomes improved among the children of White Africans but declined among Black Africans’ children. The results also suggest that among immigrants from African multi-racial societies, pre-migration racial schooling disparities do not necessarily disappear after immigration to the United States. Additionally, the children of Black Africans from these contexts have worse outcomes than the children of other Black African immigrants and their relative disadvantage persists even after other factors are controlled.”
tags: newjournalarticles
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Pathways to El Norte: Origins, Destinations, and Characteristics of Mexican Migrants to the United States1 – Riosmena – 2012 – International Migration Review – Wiley Online Library
“The geography Mexican migration to the U.S. has experienced deep transformations in both its origin composition and the destinations chosen by migrants. To date, however, we know little about how shifting migrant origins and destinations may be linked to each another geographically and, ultimately, structurally as relatively similar brands of economic restructuring have been posited to drive the shifts in origins and destinations. In this paper, we describe how old and new migrant networks have combined to fuel the well-documented geographic expansion of Mexican migration. We use data from the 2006 Mexican National Survey of Population Dynamics, a nationally representative survey that for the first time collected information on U.S. state of destination for all household members who had been to the U.S. during the 5 years prior to the survey. We find that the growth in immigration to southern and eastern states is disproportionately fueled by undocumented migration from non-traditional origin regions located in Central and Southeastern Mexico and from rural areas in particular. We argue that economic restructuring in the U.S. and Mexico had profound consequences not only for the magnitude but also for the geography of Mexican migration, opening up new region-to-region flows.”
tags: newjournalarticles
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Before Crisis: Gender and Economic Outcomes of the Two Largest Immigrant Communities in Spain1 – Bradatan – 2012 – International Migration Review – Wiley Online Library
“In this study, we compare labor force outcomes of the two largest immigrant communities in Spain (Moroccans and Romanians) before the economic crisis hit. We are interested in understanding if and how gender influences the labor force outcomes (wage per hour, labor force participation, and unemployment rate) of these two immigrant groups. Our analyses show that, overall, gender is an important variable on Spanish labor market, but it affects differently the two groups. There is a male job market and a female job market for both Romanian and Moroccan immigrants, with men earning significantly higher wages than women. However, while for Moroccans, working women differ significantly from men in terms of demographic characteristics, Romanian women and men have similar demographic characteristics and comparable levels of labor force participation, but differ in terms of wage levels.”
tags: newjournalarticles
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Passing by the Girls? Remittance Allocation for Educational Expenditures and Social Inequality in Nepal’s Households 2003–2004 – Vogel – 2012 – International Migration Review – Wiley Online Library
“We examine the utilization of remittances for expenditures associated with development, specifically children’s education. We use household-level data from the Nepal Living Standards Survey (NLSS II, 2003–04) to separate remittance effects from general household income effects to demonstrate the migration–development relationship reflected in child schooling investment. We find that family-household remittances are spent on education of children, but the expenditures are disproportionately for boys’ schooling. Only when girls are members of higher-income households do greater schooling expenditures go to them. This gender-discriminating pattern at the household level contrasts with the call for universal and gender-equal education.”
tags: newjournalarticles
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Epidemiological assessment of food aid in the Bosnian conflict, 1994–97 – Andersson – 2011 – Disasters – Wiley Online Library
“Surveys in emergency settings are important for the accountability of food aid. Four household surveys conducted between 1994 and 1997 measured the performance of the Bosnia food aid programme, covering a random sample of clusters in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republica Srpska. The team calculated coverage, exclusion and inclusion errors, programme misses, and under-supply. Despite intended universal coverage from 1994–96, 15, 19, and 31 per cent, respectively, did not receive food across the three-year time frame. Households categorised as vulnerable were somewhat more likely to receive food. Programme misses were rare, whereas under-supply fell from 30 per cent in 1994 to four per cent in 1997, as the availability of other food increased. Extrapolation suggested that 61 per cent of the food distributed did not reach households. The programme introduced priority categories for targeting in 1997, yet nearly one-half of the highest priority households did not receive food. Incomplete coverage and weak targeting were related to political constraints.”
tags: newjournalarticles
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Understanding State Responses to Forced Migration – Robertson – 2012 – International Studies Review – Wiley Online Library
tags: newjournalarticles
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Nation-freezing: images of the nation and the migrant in citizenship packages – SUVARIEROL – 2011 – Nations and Nationalism – Wiley Online Library
“ABSTRACT. New nationalism differs from classical nationalism in terms of its content and focus. Whereas classical nationalism distinguishes itself from other nation-states in defining its national identity, new nationalism distinguishes the ‘native’ national identity from that of its current and prospective citizens of migrant origin. The terms of integration thus become conditions of membership in the national community. Citizenship and integration policies emerge as central arenas where the discourse of new nationalism unfolds. This study looks into the discourses of cultural citizenship by studying the content of the official ‘citizenship packages’ – materials designed to welcome newcomers and assist them in their integration – in three Western European countries: The Netherlands, France and the UK. What images are depicted of the nation-state and the migrant in citizenship packages, and (how) do these images freeze the nation?”
tags: newjournalarticles
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Informit – Australasian Public Libraries and Information Services – Sustaining community archives (Humanities & Social Sciences Collection)
“Abstract: Community archives play an important role in heritage and cultural wellbeing but the quality of care they receive and their accessibility vary greatly. This paper presents the results of research which investigated the factors required for maintenance of community archives and how well a selection of New Zealand archives exhibited them. The results showed that many of the factors required for maintenance are interrelated and interdependent but that some have a particularly strong impact on the maintenance of the archival records and the evidence they contain. Based on these results and factors, possible strategies for enhancing the future sustainability of community archives are proposed. Edited version of a paper presented at A sense of place: local studies in Australia and New Zealand conference Sydney 5-6 May 2011.”
tags: newjournalarticles
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The British Ugandan Asian diaspora: multiple and contested belongings – HERBERT – 2012 – Global Networks – Wiley Online Library
“In this article, I map the diverse allegiances and changing conceptions of home expressed by British Ugandan Asians. Drawing on in-depth interviews, I situate the analysis within the wider literature on diaspora, belonging and home. By revealing their different trajectories of belonging, I challenge much of the current literature on the South Asian diaspora, which focuses on connections to India as the principal homeland. Their complex relationship to Britain in the aftermath of the expulsion provides an alternative insight to previous research, which has stressed their commitment to the UK. I trace how they constructed their sense of ‘home’ in Uganda, how their forced migration transformed this and how they responded to their contested and multiple belongings. The respondents’ emphasis on their previous attachments to Uganda helps to challenge stereotypes about South Asians in Uganda and can partly be seen as an attempt to reclaim their place in Uganda’s history.”
tags: newjournalarticles
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Connectedness, social support and internalising emotional and behavioural problems in adolescents displaced by the Chechen conflict – Betancourt – 2012 – Disasters – Wiley Online Library
“The study investigated factors associated with internalising emotional and behavioural problems among adolescents displaced during the most recent Chechen conflict. A cross-sectional survey (N = 183) examined relationships between social support and connectedness with family, peers and community in relation to internalising problems. Levels of internalising were higher in displaced Chechen youth compared to published norms among non-referred youth in the United States and among Russian children not affected by conflict. Girls demonstrated higher problem scores compared to boys. Significant inverse correlations were observed between family, peer and community connectedness and internalising problems. In multivariate analyses, family connectedness was indicated as a significant predictor of internalising problems, independent of age, gender, housing status and other forms of support evaluated. Sub-analyses by gender indicated stronger protective relationships between family connectedness and internalising problems in boys. Results indicate that family connectedness is an important protective factor requiring further exploration by gender in war-affected adolescents.”
tags: newjournalarticles
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When “Humanitarianism” Becomes “Development”: The Politics of International Aid in Syria’s Palestinian Refugee Camps – Gabiam – 2012 – American Anthropologist – Wiley Online Library
“ABSTRACT In recent years, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has attempted to go beyond its role as a provider of relief and basic services in Palestinian refugee camps and emphasize its role as a development agency. In this article, I focus on the Neirab Rehabilitation Project, an UNRWA-sponsored development project taking place in the Palestinian refugee camps of Ein el Tal and Neirab in northern Syria. I argue that UNRWA’s role as a relief-centered humanitarian organization highlights the everyday suffering of Palestinian refugees, suffering that has become embedded in refugees’ political claims. I show that UNRWA’s emphasis on “development” in the refugee camps is forcing Palestinian refugees in Ein el Tal and Neirab to reassess the political narrative through which they have understood their relationship with UNRWA. [humanitarianism, development, UNRWA, Palestine, refugee camps]”
tags: newjournalarticles
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Citizenship Rights for Immigrants: National Political Processes and Cross-National Convergence in Western Europe, 1980–2008
Abstract:
Immigrant citizenship rights in the nation-state reference both theories of cross-national convergence and the resilience of national political processes. This article investigates European countries’ attribution of rights to immigrants: Have these rights become more inclusive and more similar across countries? Are they affected by EU membership, the role of the judiciary, the party in power, the size of the immigrant electorate, or pressure exerted by anti-immigrant parties? Original data on 10 European countries, 1980–2008, reveal no evidence for cross-national convergence. Rights tended to become more inclusive until 2002, but stagnated afterward. Electoral changes drive these trends: growth of the immigrant electorate led to expansion, but countermobilization by right-wing parties slowed or reversed liberalizations. These electoral mechanisms are in turn shaped by long-standing policy traditions, leading to strong path dependence and the reproduction of preexisting cross-national differences.
tags: newjournalarticles
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Human Rights as Myth and Ceremony? Reevaluating the Effectiveness of Human Rights Treaties, 1981–2007
“Much research has shown human rights treaties to be ineffective or even counterproductive, often contributing to greater levels of abuse among countries that ratify them. This article reevaluates the effect of four core human rights treaties on a variety of human rights outcomes. Unlike previous studies, it disaggregates treaty membership to examine the effect of relatively “stronger” and “weaker” commitments. Two-stage regression analyses that control for the endogeneity of treaty membership show that stronger commitments in the form of optional provisions that allow states and individuals to complain about human rights abuses are often associated with improved practices. The article discusses the scholarly and practical implications of these findings. “
tags: newjournalarticles
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Taylor & Francis Online :: Enhancing solidarity: Discourses of voluntary organizations on immigration and integration in multicultural societies – Journal of Multicultural Discourses – Volume 7, Issue 1
“This article analyses the discursive construction of solidarity regarding immigration and integration in two European countries: Spain and Denmark. The study is based on interviews with representatives of 10 Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and it focuses on the affective and evaluative dimensions of language aimed at achieving alignment with civil society. The analytical approach combines Positive Discourse Analysis and Appraisal Theory, since these perspectives deal from a discourse analytic point of view with social change promoted by community and interpersonal relations. The discourses on solidarity are framed with reference to their respective national policies and debates. Therefore, different approaches exist between the two countries, albeit that all the NGOs aim to show new dimensions of integration in order to promote empathy towards immigrants. The goal of the NGOs is to contribute positively to social change and combating the current unfair situation. In the article it is argued that solidarity is built on affect and evaluative language at the national level, challenging in this way dominant policies on immigration. Furthermore, the findings show that a European discourse which would be able to solve contradictions related to the scope of human rights, politics of asylum and inclusion of irregular immigrants is still missing.”
tags: newjournalarticles
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Taylor & Francis Online :: Towards a Sociology of Migrant Remittances in Asia: Conceptual and Methodological Challenges – Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies – Volume 38, Issue 4
“Much of the interest and research on migrant remittances in the past have been concerned with the monetary value of such transactions and their macro-economic implications for the sending countries. It was only in recent years that research has focused on the social impact that remittances have for migrant workers and their families and communities of origin. We discuss some of the conceptual and methodological issues that such research poses in Asia, where a policy of temporary labour migration is widely practised by host governments. We call for greater attention to be paid to the sending, receipt, control and use of remittances as integral to the social process of remittance transfers. We recommend the adoption of existing social research methods such as multi-site and mixed-method designs, both-ways surveys and longitudinal work. We also stress the need to view remittance transfer as a gendered process. The reconfiguration of such research, we argue, will give rise to a sociology of migrant remittances.”
tags: newjournalarticles
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Community, Race, and Memory: The Cultural Life of African-Americans in Frankfort, Kentucky
“On Tuesday, October 25, 2011, at 5:30 p.m., about 200 adults, an even mix of blacks and whites, filed under an art deco marquee and into the lobby of the historic, newly renovated Grand Theatre in Frankfort, Kentucky. Among many amiable conversations along the way, there was a sense of collective excitement, and perhaps some cautious anticipation, about what would be presented and discussed. A majority of attendees had personal connections to the general topic “Cultural Life of African-Americans in Frankfort” and to the specific topics presented in the three oral history efforts brought together in the symposium.
Michael Fields, a Grand Theatre board member, welcomed the audience and introduced oral historian and former Kentucky Historical Society assistant director James Wallace, who then introduced the three presenters:
Sheila Mason Burton, associate editor of Community Memories: A Glimpse of African American Life in Frankfort, Kentucky (Kentucky Historical Society, 2003)
Doug Boyd, PhD, author of Crawfish Bottom: Recovering a Lost Kentucky Community (University Press of Kentucky, 2011)
Joanna Hay, filmmaker of Stories from the Balcony (Joanna Hay Productions, expected release in 2014).
Each of these projects deserves its own media review, but this review will maintain broader focus on the symposium as a whole.
Sheila Mason Burton presented first on Community Memories, a book that was published as a result of an oral history and photograph collection project and exhibition. Burton was associate editor, with senior editor Dr. Winona L. Fletcher who was seated in the audience. With audio playback and a slideshow on the theatre’s big screen, Burton demonstrated how the Frankfort African American community in which she grew up dealt with social problems caused by urban renewal, such as displacement and relocation. She emphasized the main idea behind … ”
tags: newjournalarticles
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Tracking Holocaust Memory: 1946-2010
“Approaching an Auschwitz Survivor and The Wonder of Their Voices both make important and unique contributions to Holocaust and trauma studies. They are also fascinating reads. Alan Rosen, professor of literature at the International School for Holocaust Studies, Yad Vashem, Israel, gives a captivating historical account of the pathbreaking work of psychologist David Boder, who in 1946 lugged what then was a state-of-the-art portable wire recorder and dozens of carbon-wire spools to France, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, to interview concentration camp survivors and other “displaced persons.” Boder was likely the first to record the voices of the war survivors, just one year after their liberation. While many other journalists and scholars conducted interviews with survivors, no audio recordings are known to exist prior to Boder’s collection. The recordings in themselves constitute a unique human and scholarly legacy, having only resurfaced in the 1990s. Boder also left transcripts, translations, and some publications, which are not well known even among experts. In uncovering his work for the broader audience, Rosen interweaves several dramatic tales: Boder’s life, his recording expeditions, and the difficulties he faced in trying to publish and archive this unique legacy.
Jürgen Matthaus, director of Holocaust Studies at the National Holocaust Museum, offers another unique contribution to Holocaust studies: a “first attempt at a multilayered analysis of a single body of survivor testimony by different scholars” (1). The subject is the testimony of a single survivor, Mrs. Helen “Zippi” Tichauer. Interestingly, Mrs. Tichauer also links the two books: Boder first interviewed her in 1946, and the five scholars in this volume explore her narrative from biographical, historical, sociological, pedagogical, and testimonial perspectives over many years. Both books are hard to put down, not only because of the poignancy of their subject matter and smooth writing but also because of the … ”
tags: newjournalarticles
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New Directions in Palestinian Oral History
“In different ways, these four books represent how Palestinian oral history is breaking new ground while continuing to document the nakbah (what is known as the catastrophe, the displacement of the indigenous Palestinian Arabs with the formation of the state of Israel on May 15, 1948).1 The works under discussion highlight the emergence of a new generation of Palestinian scholars as well as the central role that women are playing in redefining Palestinian oral history. Notably, that includes Palestinian women who are citizens of Israel.
Despite some commonalities, these four books also diverge from each in their agendas, their uses of oral history, and their writing styles. For example, while both Esber and Matar are presenting Palestinian history, they tell that history quite differently. Using extensive documentary sources for the period leading up to the formation of the Israeli state in Under the Cover of War: The Zionist Expulsion of the Palestinians, Esber uses oral history quotes from refugees to flesh out written archival sources by documenting the lived nakbah experiences of refugees.
By contrast, Dina Matar’s What It Means to be Palestinian has both a longer historical sweep and presents a “personal history of Palestinians in their own words” (1). In other words, oral histories are the heart of her book. Like the cumulative impact of Studs Terkel’s oral histories in Working, these relatively short narratives resonate with meaning. Kassem, too, focuses on meaning in Palestinian Women: Narrative Histories and Gendered Memory, using interview excerpts to illustrate how narrators shape their stories and the language they use.
It is more difficult to characterize the anthology Displaced at Home: Ethnicity and Gender among Palestinians in Israel, edited by Kanaaneh and Nusair, because of the wide variation in both the disciplinary perspectives of the essays and … ”
tags: newjournalarticles
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Mexican Women and the Other Side of Immigration: Engendering Transnational Ties
“The introduction to Mexican Women and the Other Side of Immigration sets the stage for the study of San Ignacio Cerro Gordo’s immigrant community, its connection to Detroit, Michigan, and its impact in the economy of San Ignacio in the state of Jalisco. It provides the reader with an introduction/preface to the Catholic Church and its role in the recognition of immigrants (los hijos ausentes) while also serving as a summary of historical works by sociologists, economists, and Chicano historians who have shown the differences of Mexican immigrants in the Southwest. The author credits those who have done work on the Midwest, particularly Gabriela Arredondo. Gordillo explains that her own work expands on transnational and gendered studies done before but views immigration as one experience that takes into account the Mexican and the U.S. experience (5). Crucial in this section is Gordillo’s idea that oral histories provide historians with an important tool to trace women’s immigrant experience, a phenomenon that challenges what she considers hegemonic male-oriented narratives on transnational subjects (12–3).
Chapter 1 focuses on the importance and influence of San Ignacio’s emigrants in the religious celebrations as well as the economic and cultural transformation of San Ignacio and Detroit. Gordillo points out that immigration studies …”
tags: newjournalarticles
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Making a Way Out of No Way: African American Women and the Second Great Migration
“In a well-planned book, Lisa Krissoff Boehm chronicles the experiences of African American women during the Second Great Migration. The book presents the voices of forty women who were born in the rural South and moved between 1940 and 1970 to urban areas of the North. Boehm’s work provides much-needed scholarship on a population conspicuously absent in most oral history collections. The book questions the motivations for the migration and seeks to understand how the migrant families’ lives were different because of the migration.
Boehm provides concise biographical sketches on each of the forty women interviewed for the book. From these sketches, the reader learns that the women came from different parts of the South, although most were born in either Mississippi or Alabama; and most of the women were born in the 1920s and 1930s. However, the women interviewed represent a range of years, born from 1902 to 1962. This group provided Boehm with an excellent opportunity to learn of the migratory experience from various ages, … ”
tags: newjournalarticles
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Iraq’s Last Jews: Stories of Daily Life, Upheaval, and Escape From Modern Babylon
“Jews have lived in Mesopotamia for 2,500 years, since being transported there as captives after the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem in 586 BCE. For centuries, Babylonia was the world center of Jewish culture. While retaining distinctive religious and cultural practices, Jews were in many ways well integrated into Mesopotamian society. Social and political treatment of Jews waxed and waned with political changes in the region, but Jews always constituted a significant minority. By the 1920s, close to 140,000 Jews lived in Iraq, most of them in Baghdad, where they made up about one-third of the city’s population. Jews were influential in commerce, in politics, and in Iraqi national culture. Then, between 1939 and 2008, as a result of intense anti-Jewish government policies, the establishment of the state of Israel, and Arab nationalism’s response to Zionist action in the region, all but a handful of Iraq’s Jews left the country.
Iraq’s Last Jews tells the closing chapter of this 2,500-year history. The book presents the voices of three generations who lived through the Babylonian Jews’ final exodus. The volume is made up of edited oral histories with nineteen Jews and one Shi’ite Muslim. The Jews are all (except … ”
tags: newjournalarticles
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Life Skills Training as an Effective Intervention Strategy to Reduce Stress among Tibetan Refugee Adolescents
“Today, the increasing complexity of life in a time of socio-cultural and economic transition has led to the emergence of various problems, such that literacy and numerical skills alone will not help children to face the growing challenges. Thus, skill based training has been in much demand to empower children to resolve such conflicts successfully. Among the many existing skill based training programmes, life skills training (LST) has been a buzzword especially in school and health care education. Life skills are psychosocial competencies and contribute greatly to achieving psychological, social and mental well-being. Although there is no definitive list of life skills, any skill which is psychosocial and interpersonal in nature can be labelled a life skill. WHO, UNICEF and UNFPA listed 10 skills as the most essential, which have been particularly considered for the present study. The 10 core skills which are relevant across cultures are decision making, problem solving, creative thinking, critical thinking, effective communication, interpersonal relationship, empathy, self-awareness, coping with emotions and coping with stress. “
tags: newjournalarticles
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Can Migratory Contacts and Remittances Contribute to Reconciliation and Reconstruction in Rwanda? – Caarls – 2012 – International Migration – Wiley Online Library
“Migratory contacts may have a positive or a negative influence on local processes of reconciliation and reconstruction. However, their impact on individual attitudinal and behavioural attributes remains a largely underexposed topic. Migrants from post-conflict Rwanda maintain substantive contacts with their relatives through social networks and the resources that they send. Reconstruction and reconciliation programmes in post-conflict Rwanda heavily rely on these migratory contacts. We explore the relationship between migration, reconstruction and reconciliation processes in post-conflict Rwanda. We analyse the importance of migratory contacts as a major constituent of social capital, and discuss whether and how remittances can be used for mobilizing this social capital. Adopting a micro-level perspective, we examine the effects of migratory contacts and remittances on cooperative behaviour and willingness for reconciliation amongst 558 households in Huye District, southern Rwanda. We find that migratory contacts enhance reconstructive behaviour and reconciliatory attitudes, whereas financial remittances result in reduced participation in these processes, indicating that there is a crowding-out effect due to remittance-dependency. Furthermore, we scrutinize the relationship between reconciliation and reconstruction, showing that inter-group contact is a key mediating variable.”
tags: newjournalarticles
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Financial Access for Migrants and Intermediation of Remittances in South Africa – Makina – 2012 – International Migration – Wiley Online Library
“In this paper, I examine the state of access to financial services by migrants in South Africa and the intermediation of remittances using a case study of Zimbabwean migrants. I observe that migrants generally use informal channels to intermediate remittances. While this phenomenon can technically be attributed to immigration laws and the financial regulatory environment, there are other factors at play, such as cultural inertia. I observe financial access for migrants to be positively related to migrant legal status, income level, savings level and education level. Furthermore, I note that financial access is not correlated with the choice of the mode of remittance transfer. The majority of migrants with financial access still prefer to utilize informal transfer mechanisms. Policy interventions that have the effect of improving financial access include the “formalization” of the legal status of migrants, improving their wage levels and access to education, and expanding savings programmes to migrants.”
tags: newjournalarticles
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Migration and Characteristics of Remittance Senders in South Africa – Makina – 2012 – International Migration – Wiley Online Library
“Since 2000, South Africa has experienced unprecedented migration from Zimbabwe. Surveys have estimated that by the end of 2007, between 1 million and 2 million Zimbabweans had migrated to South Africa as a result of a political and economic crisis that has been bedevilling their country. These migrants are supporting the livelihoods of relatives left at home through remittances. The nature of the remittance flows is not well documented, and the characteristics of the remittance senders and recipients are even less well understood. In this paper, I attempt to fill this research gap by focusing on the remittance behaviour of the senders. Using data from a survey of Zimbabwean migrants living in Johannesburg in South Africa, in this paper I examine the socio-economic and demographic characteristics of the remittance senders. Pertinent findings are that remittance behaviour is seen to be positively correlated with age, the number of dependents supported in the home country, income level and the return migration decision. Furthermore, males and married persons make up a larger proportion of the remitters than females and single persons. There are more remitters among migrants with basic education than among those with tertiary education. I have found remittance behaviour to be independent of legal status and length of stay in the host country. The independence with regard to length of stay raises questions about the validity of the remittance decay hypothesis.”
tags: newjournalarticles
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Living in Limbo: Transnational Households, Remittances and Development – Castañeda – 2012 – International Migration – Wiley Online Library
“In recent years, the reception of remittances by migrant-sending countries has been quantified and well advertised. Many have predicted economic development based on the magnitude of these aggregate figures, leaving aside the fact that new family arrangements, emigration expectations, consumption patterns and demographic changes impact the prospects for development. This paper shows how remittances link distant locations economically, socially and culturally creating unique transnational dynamics that shape development at both ends. I use multi-sited ethnographic work conducted over seven years in different places of migrant origin and destination. The paper challenges common assumptions regarding the developmental effect of remittances, by contrasting the hyper-rational, atomistic and perfectly informed theoretical actors of the neoclassical account with the complex actors who make their decisions on the basis of imperfect information, and the values and meanings constructed within a transnational web of family and community ties.”
tags: newjournalarticles
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Does Circular Migration Lead to “Guest Worker” Outcomes? – Doomernik – 2012 – International Migration – Wiley Online Library
“At first at the level of the European Commission, and increasingly also in the European Union’s member states, it is being recognized that past labour migration management tools have more or less serious drawbacks in that they produce undesired outcomes and do not sufficiently attain the objectives for which they were designed. The welfare states of north-western Europe are discovering that their desire of the past three decades to restrict labour immigration as much as possible is no longer “in sync” with changing labour market demands, which are growing both for the highly skilled and the unskilled. In order to satisfy the demand for unskilled labour, schemes are being proposed that would allow for circular migration. The European Commission is a forceful promoter of these schemes. Member states such as the Netherlands, which we take as a case in point, are also considering modes by which to allow temporary unskilled labour migration, but seem intent on employing regulatory tools that are not very different from those used in the “guest worker” era, which brought about large-scale settlement. Up to the present time, the resulting ethnic minority groups are the subject of large integration efforts on the part of the receiving states. This begs the question of the extent to which “circular migration” would be different from “guest worker” schemes, in its management and its outcomes.”
tags: newjournalarticles
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Immigrant Populations and the Labour Market in Greece at the Beginning of the Twenty-First Century – Gavalas – 2012 – International Migration – Wiley Online Library
“Our purpose in undertaking this research is to methodically map the labour market circumstances of the main immigrant groups in Greece. We classify all of the Districts of Greece into three categories (Diverse, Mixed and Unmixed) according to the ethnic composition of each District. We measure how the employment status of the immigrants varies (1) according to the ethnic group and sex of the immigrant, and (2) according to the ethnic composition and economic structure of a District. In general, the majority of immigrants exhibit lower unemployment and higher economic activity rates than the indigenous Greeks. Three immigrant groups (Albanians, Bulgarians and “Other”), which make up two-thirds of the foreign-born population of Greece, have lower unemployment rates than the national average, and lower rates than Greeks as well. The poorest labour market outcomes are observed in Unmixed and Mixed Districts, whereas Diverse Districts are better off. At the regional level, the most disadvantaged Geographical Department is the Ionian Islands, since it presents the highest unemployment rates for the general population for both sexes. With regard to sex-differential unemployment across immigrant groups, we found that women exhibit higher unemployment than men in almost every ethnic group.”
tags: newjournalarticles
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Estimation of International Migration in Post-Soviet Republics – Makaryan – 2012 – International Migration – Wiley Online Library
“When annual migration data lack reliability, scholars apply alternative methods for estimating international migration. Yet, researchers note that alternative approaches have primarily been tested on developed countries, rather than developing countries that usually have dramatic migration shifts. I close this research gap. I use the example of 15 former Soviet republics to demonstrate several conclusions. First, I show that such alternative approaches as immigration-by-origin data of receiving countries do not result in reliable and valid estimates of post-Soviet migration, given the large variation that exists in how former Soviet republics define “migrant”. Second, I demonstrate that population censuses, while a more superior alternative, fail to capture temporary migrants. In developing countries, the international emigration is mainly due to temporary (undocumented labour) migration. Third, I suggest that scholars and policy-makers should apply household surveys as a possible alternative. However, while this method seems promising, given the limited use of household surveys in migration measurement in the post-Soviet republics, future research by both scholars and applied researchers should explore the advantages and limitations of household surveys as an alternative source for estimation of migration. Finally, I outline methodological guidelines that researchers and scholars can advance on migration issues in the post-Soviet region.”
tags: newjournalarticles
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Taylor & Francis Online :: Migrant workers in eldercare in Israel: social and legal aspects – European Journal of Social Work – Volume 15, Issue 1
“Most old people want to remain in their homes and age in place, and they regard institutional admission as a last resort. In various developed countries, as the demand for homecare workers to augment traditional family caregiving increases apace, migrant caregivers providing otherwise unavailable informal services are becoming more common. They enable older people to stay in their homes, provide them with a sense of security and confidence, reduce feelings of loneliness and solitude, alleviate the family burden, and improve the well-being of the primary caregivers. On the other hand, migrant caregivers pose serious challenges to existing social and legal institutions in the societies in which they operate. They demand policy responses that in many cases have socio-economic consequences that go beyond the older population they serve.
This article describes and analyzes the Israeli experience with migrant homecare workers for older persons. It discusses key problems and dilemmas that are involved with employing migrant homecare workers, and provides some critical perspectives on policies adopted in Israel as a response to this phenomenon.”
tags: newjournalarticles
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The post-nationalization of immigrant rights: a theory in search of evidence1 – Koopmans – 2012 – The British Journal of Sociology – Wiley Online Library
tags: newjournalarticles
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Citizenship, immigration, and the European social project: rights and obligations of individuality
tags: newjournalarticles
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ScienceDirect.com – International Journal of Intercultural Relations – Parents and children only? Acculturation and the influence of extended family members among Vietnamese refugees
“The nuclear family is often the point of departure in much of the existing acculturation research on refugee youth and children of refugees. The influence of other extended family members appears to receive less attention in understanding acculturation processes and intergenerational perspectives. This qualitative study explores the influence of extended family members upon a small sample of Vietnamese refugee parents and their adolescents while they undergo acculturation through their long-term resettlement process in Norway. With repeated interviews over a time span of 3 years, we identified situations and processes in family life in which extended kin become particularly activated and influential. Vietnamese refugee families in Norway keep close contact with extended kin even in the face of geographical distance to kin remaining in Vietnam, or globally dispersed. Aunts, uncles, and cousins are experienced as significant persons in the lives of many adolescents. Additionally, birth order of parents can often influence relationship dynamics among siblings and siblings children. Extended kin surfaced as especially important and influential at critical stages and crisis situations in family life. Extended family, and in particular, parental siblings play important roles in the acculturation experience and family functioning of Vietnamese refugee families in Norway. This has important implications for the study of Vietnamese and other refugee and immigrant families in acculturation research.”
tags: newjournalarticles
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Rates of mental illness and suicidality in … [Can J Psychiatry. 2012] – PubMed – NCBI
“Objective: Studies from around the world point to differences in the rates of mental illnesses between immigrant, refugee, ethnocultural, and racialized (IRER) groups and host populations. Risk of illness depends on social contexts; therefore, to offer the best information for people aiming to develop and offer equitable services, local information on rates of mental illness in different population groups is required. Methods: We performed a literature review of peer-reviewed journals and the grey literature between 1990 and 2009 using standard techniques and identified primary research reporting the rates of mental illness and suicidality in IRER groups in Canada. Results: Among the 229 papers we reviewed, 17 were included. Most papers reported rates for depression. There was no clear pattern, with different IRER groups and different age groups reporting either elevated or lower rates, compared with white Canadians. Refugee youth in Quebec have higher rates of numerous mental health problems and illnesses. When immigrant groups were considered as a whole, suicide rates were low but different national origin groups reported different trajectories in rates across the generations. Conclusion: The literature on rates of mental illness and suicidality in IRER groups in Canada is diverse and not comprehensive. In addition, most research has been conducted in 3 provinces and, in particular, 3 major cities. The rates of mental illness seem to vary by national origin groups, age, and status in Canada. There is very little research on nonimmigrant, culturally diverse populations in Canada. This lack of information may undermine efforts to develop equitable mental health services for all Canadians.”
tags: newjournalarticles
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